Standing up to Labor's bullies

Local Labor lefties last week continued their exploration of how many false and discriminatory hit pieces a group can distribute in one primary season. The latest howler was a mailer suggesting lifelong Democrat and mayoral candidate Matt Mahan is a closet Trumpy Republican. Huh? The Merc editorial board awakened to renounce the mailer's accuracy. But more importantly, D3 council candidate Irene Smith demolished the rhetorical foundations of Labor's looney attacks on their competitors, and argued for an inclusive, nonpartisan approach to local politics. Smith's letter to supporters is excerpted below.

I learned early on that you have to stand up to bullies. It began for me on the playground defending my little sister.

That is why I applaud the editorial from the Mercury News which called out the biased efforts to identify mayoral candidate Matt Mahan with political views he does not hold--all because a local GOP organization recommended him. {Full disclosure, they recommended me, too, as well as DA Jeff Rosen.} Johnny Khamis has endured race-tinged, anti-Arab and anti-immigrant attack ads.

And all of these strikes resemble the widely denounced attacks on Jake Tonkel in 2020.

Mahan hit piece
Khamis hit piece
Tonkel hit piece

I believe in radical inclusivity because we all directly benefit from diversity.

And if fair-minded folks with whom I disagree on major national issues want to get on the Team Irene Bus because they like my plans on homelessness, housing, and crime--there's a seat for them.

I will work with anyone, anywhere to solve D3's problems.

I stand with the Merc and all the open-minded citizens of D3 in rejecting the ugly politics of division and marginalization. Say "yes" to politics that bring us together, that uplift, and most importantly, that promote enthusiastic and respectful debate.

Irene Smith

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